Wire basket for bottles



Nov. 4, 1952 1.. H. SCHWARZ WIRE BASKET FOR BOTTLES 2 Sl-IEETSSHEET 1Filed Nov. 25, 1949 1 W- 1; find Wm C M r. w WON INVENTOR LEONARD LSCHWARZ TORN 1952 L. H. SCHWARZ 2,616,601

WIRE BASKET F OR BOTTLES Filed Nov. 25, 1949 INVENTOR LEONARD SCHWARZATTORNEY Patented Nov. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 10 Claims.

This invention relates to carrying baskets for a small number of bottlesand particularly to a wire basket that will permit the bottles whiledisposed in the basket to be placed in a box or tray divided by verticalpartitions or walls to form compartments for individual bottles.

An object of importance of the invention is that the basket may beformed of a small number of metal parts that can be readily made byconventional sheet stamping and forming and wire bending equipment.

Another feature that is important is that each bottle is retained inposition by a single bent wire member, the wire members for retainingeach bottle being identical and each bent wire being attached to acentral sheet metal member between the opposite side panels thereof.

A feature that enables the above objects to be accomplished is that theends of the bent wire members are bent back on themselves and are heldbetween crimped portions of the side panels of the sheet metal memberheld rigidly together by closely positioned rivets.

And another feature of the invention that is important is thatreinforcing members formed of small sheet metal pieces may be crimpedabout upper intermediate portions of the bent wire members to morerigidly retain these members in their correct bottle retainingpositions.

With the above and other objects in view the invention may include thefeatures of construction and operation set forth in the followingspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanyin drawings annexed hereto and forming a part of thisspecification, I have shown the invention embodied in a wire basket forcarrying six individual small size beverage bottles but it will beunderstood that the invention can be otherwise embodied and that thedrawings are not to be construed as defining or limiting the scope ofthe invention, the claims appended to this specification beingreliedupon for that purpose.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a wire basket made in accordance with thepresent invention with bottles positioned therein and with the basketand bottles fitting within a portion of a box or tray divided intocompartments for individual bottles;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the carrier, bottles and tray or box shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the carrier and bottles shown in Figs. 1and 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view on an enlarged scale, partially brokenaway to more clearly show the details of construction of the bent wiremembers and the sheet metal member;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane of line 55 inFig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a separated view of one of the bottle embracing and retainingwires, and

Fig. 7 is a separated view of a detail the view being taken from theinside of the basket.

In the above mentioned drawings, there has been shown but one embodimentof the invention which is now deemed preferable, but it is to beunderstood that changes and modifications may be made within the scopeof the appended claims without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Briefly, and in its preferred aspect, the invention may include thefollowing principal parts: First, a central panel member preferably ofsheet metal folded centrally upon itself; second, a handle attachedthereto, and third, similar individual bent wire members attached to thecentral sheet metal panel at their upper ends and adapted for retainingand supporting individual bottles slightly spaced apart.

Referring more in detail to the figures of the drawing it will be seenthat the basket includes a central panel member H! which preferably andas shown is of thin sheet metal doubled along its lower horizontal edgeto form two parallel walls I! slightly spaced apart. As shown also inthe figures the side and top edges M of these panels 12 are crimpedtogether to permanently hold the panels in closely adjacent parallelpositions.

Passing through spaced openings provided in the upper edge of the panelmember are the opposite end portions of a metal handle or loop 16. Theextreme ends of the handle [6 are bent inwardly as shown in Fig. 1 at [8to prevent complete removal of the handle from the panel member Ill butpermitting upward and downward movements of the handle for compactnessand to permit stacking of the grouped basket held bottles as shown inFig. 3.

Entering pairs of spaced holes in the side surfaces |2 of the panelmember it are the opposite ends 20 of bent wire members 22 so shaped intheir central portions that each supports a bottle 24 in position byengaging against the bottom of the bottle and by contacting its sides.The shape of the individual wire members 22 is clearly shown in Fig. 6,and each wire member is identical with the others. The lower centralpart 26 forms a support or platform on which the bottom surface of abottle 24 rests. This supporting section 26 of the wire 22 also permitsa basket with its bottles to be mounted in position upon a similarbasket with bottles whether provided with caps or not. On either side ofthe wire member is a long vertical portion and adjacent the top thesevertical members are bent into curved form 28 to enclose the bottle 24near its upper full diameter portion. The opposite ends 26 of the wiremembers 22 are passed through openings formed in the side panels l2 ofthe sheet metal member is and are bent downward. To retain these endportions 26 rigidly in position between the panels [2 of the sheet metalmember iii the panels 12 are crimped together as shown at 36 in Figs. 1,4 and 5 and these crimped portions 30 are secured together by rivets 32as shown in the above-mentioned figures. As will be seen particularly inFig. 4 individual pockets are formed between the panels [2 at theircrimped portions 30 within which one of the wire ends 20 extends. Thesepockets, it will be seen in Fig. 4, are disposed along the side of thepanel member 12 opposite the openings through which they extend.

To aid in maintaining the bent wire members 22 in fixed positionadjacent wires of these members may be attached to a reinforcing member34. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 7 the reinforcing members 34 may beformed of thin sheet metal extended portions of which may be crimpedabout the upper portions of the wire retainers 22 for adjacent bottles24.

The construction described above provides a basket retaining andsupporting six bottles in a group each bottle 24 being slightly spacedfrom the others so that the basket with its bottles may be placed in atray 38 provided with partitions to form individual compartments for thebottles. The bent wires 22 of the basket fit closely enough to thebottles 24 so that they will enter the spaces of the individualcompartments of the tray and permit the bottom portions 26 of the bentwires to rest with the bottles on the bottom of the box or tray.

In its lowermost position the handle I8 rests below the upper ends ofthe bottles so that in this position it does not interfere with thestacked up baskets with their bottles one above the other.

I claim as my invention:

1. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle mounted therein, and individual wire members bentinto loop form and attached at their upper ends only to said panelmember, each of said wire members being bent to engage the lower surfaceof a bottle and adapted to support and retain said bottle in positionagainst and below said panel member.

2. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member comprising adjacent walls having an open spacetherebetween, a handle on said panel member, and individual wire membersbent downward into loop form and having their upper ends extendingwithin the space between the walls of said panel member, said wiremembers each having portions bent to extend below a bottle and adaptedto support and retain said bottle in position against and below saidpanel member.

3. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle thereon, and a plurality of individualidentically looped wire members depending from said panel member toextend below the bottom surface of a bottle and attached at their upperends to said panel member, whereby each of said wire members is adaptedto support and retain a bottle in position against and below said panelmember.

4. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle thereon, and a plurality of spaced apart loopedwire members individually attached to and depending from said panelmember, said wire members each having a portion extending below thebottom of a bottle and adapted to support and retain a bottle againstsaid carrier with said bottles in slightly spaced apart relation to eachother.

5. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle thereon, a plurality of bent wire membersindividually secured at their upper ends thereto and dependingtherefrom, said members each being adapted individually to support andretain a bottle, and a reinforcing member attached to the upper portionsof adjacent wires to retain said wire members in position.

6. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle thereon, a plurality of bent wire bottleretaining members individually secured at their upper ends to said panelmember and depending therefrom, the central lower end of saidwiresfitting within the bottom recess of a bottle and intermediateportions of said wires surrounding said bottles, whereby said bottlesare supported and retained by said carrier.

7. A carrier for bottles comprising in combina tion, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle thereon; a plurality of bent Wire membersindividually secured at their upper ends to said panel member anddepending therefrom, said members each adapted to enclose a bottle, thecentral lower portion of said members extending centrally below thebottle and within the central recess therein.

8. A carrier for bottles comprising in combination, a vertical centralpanel member, a handle thereon, a plurality of bent wire membersindividaully secured at their upper ends to said panel member anddepending therefrom, said members each adapted to enclose a bottle, thecentral lower portion of said members extending centrally below thebottle within the central recess therein and adapted to rest on thebottle caps of bottles in another similar carrier.

9. A metal carrier for a group of spaced apart bottles comprising incombination, a vertical central plate member, a handle mounted therein,and wire members bent into loop form and attached at their upper ends tosaid plate member, said wire members at their lower portions being bentinwardly to engage the central bottom recess of the bottles and supportsaid bottles in regular spaced apart relation.

10. A metal carrier for a group of spaced apart bottles having centrallyrecessed bottom surfaces comprising in combination, a vertical centralplate member, a handle mounted therein, and wire members depending fromsaid central plate member bent into loop form and having their oppositeends attached to said plate member, said wire members serving toindividually engage the central bottom recess of a bottle andcollectively support said bottles in regular spaced apart relation.

LEONARD H. SCHWARZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,906,647 Smith et al. May 2,1933 2,029,535 L-angel Feb. 4, 1936 2,334,409 Hamilton Nov. 16, 19432,347,807 Booth May 2, 1944 2,508,062 Fowler May 16, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 787,231 France July 1, 1935

